Leader-Courier - Elk Point, SD
Published November 17, 2005

Curry to host holiday concert; releases Christmas CD

By Kelly Kruithoff

Elk Point native Joe Curry will return home to host his annual holiday concert Friday, November 25 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Elk Point. The concert, "Midnight Clear - A Christmas Concert," will begin at 7:30 p.m. Curry will be joined in the free event by vocalists Renee Curry, Robert Curry and Cara Briggs Nevin and by his cousin Julie Curry on flute. Concert-goers will be invited to bring along their singing voices and their sleigh bells. The concert will feature selections from his third CD, a Christmas collection entitled Midnight Clear.

Curry, a 1999 graduate of Elk Point-Jefferson High School, is currently studying for his MBA degree at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He graduate in 2003 from the University of Minnesota.

Midnight Clear was recorded this summer to be in time for its November holiday release. "I arranged most of the songs for the album in June in an apartment that had a barely functioning window air conditioner," said Curry. "It took some imagination to arrange songs like 'Frosty the Snowman' when perspiration was dripping from my forehead due to the summer heat."

Curry said this is the first CD where he has arranged and recorded other composers' music. He also took on the role of producer and learned how to work with the other musicians and his engineer to obtain the desired sound and blend.

"It was a fun challenge to creatively interpret the holiday classics in my own style, and yet ensure that the tunes would still be familiar," Curry said. "I then selected different instruments to complement the piano and the mood of each song. It's a layered process and to put it into holiday terms, the piano music is like setting up the Christmas tree and the vocals and instruments are stringing the lights and hanging the ornaments."

Several of Curry's college friends provided instrumental accompaniment with cello, flute, French horn and saxophone. Curry also added more vocal selections to his new work. "I was amused when one person who had heard this new album commented that I sound similar to classical singer Josh Groban, except I'm singing in English," Curry noted.

Curry cantors weekly for the MBA Student Mass at Notre Dame and periodically plays the grand piano in the campus bookstore. He also has performed for a number of private parties around South Bend and in Minnesota and will play at a New Year's Eve wedding.

He hopes to find a music distributor who can help him reach a wider audience. He will release a fourth CD sometime after he completes his graduate studies. Curry's CDs will be available at the holiday concert and are available at locations in Elk Point, Vermillion, Sioux City and Sioux Falls. He is the son of Bill and Julie Curry of Elk Point.